12-20 IAN 2010 Meet Winner

 Stephen Bagley of Victor won top honors in this year’s Young Farmer and Rancher Discussion Meet. Bagley took home a check for $500 from Dodge and a new Polaris four-wheeler for his efforts. In addition he will receive an all-expense paid trip to the American Farm Bureau Federation Meeting in Atlanta next month where he will compete against peers from throughout the nation. Bagley also won the YF&R Excellence in Agriculture Award this year taking home a new laptop computer and a second $500 check from Dodge. I asked Stephen how he had honed his skills as a Discussion Meet Competitor: “It’s taken me 6 years as a participant to evolve. I had to be aware of the topics as best as I could and a lot of times in ag we focus on only what’s affecting us at the moment. I really had to go out and see what’s going on in ag on a broader perspective. I read journals, farm publications, everything I could find and it was helpful. I also studied every monthly Idaho Farm Bureau newspaper.” No simple country boy there!